Twins of Fate

Disclaimer: The Dark is Rising Sequence and all characters contained therein are Susan Cooper's. I own only copies of the lovely books and, although I wish I'd written a masterpiece such as this sequence, I must say I haven't. Mrs. Cooper did and I commend her for it. The only things of mine here are the plot, Leon, Lireal and assorted other made up characters. And the word Confuzzlement.

Summary: Will may have been the last of the Old Ones to be born, but not the last to come into his power. This story is about the final one of Light and the final one of Dark… Twins inseparable by time, distance or even the force of all the world and all the powers…

Chapter 1

Storm clouds

It was a gray dawn, giving way to a dark day. Storm clouds, swollen and threatening obscured the sun and the sky. However, it was now evening, the sun having set unnoticed, and the rain had not yet begun to fall and thunder could only be heard distantly, the flashes barely visible on the horizon. Nevertheless, the impending onslaught of the weather was felt by all, most especially a boy and a girl standing and watching.

The two ignored the calls for them to come inside and go to bed, simply standing in the backyard of the small house, staring into the sky. The two were obviously twins, so alike were they in stature and in features, save the eyes. They both had snow white hair and pale skin, their frames were on the small and scrawny side and their features were delicate and small. The eyes, however, were large and strange, of solid color, possessing neither pupil nor iris. The boy had eyes of deepest black that seemed devoid of light, almost sucking it into their mysterious depths. The girl had eyes of silver, shining with a light from within and reflecting any outward light in greater strength than before. The two pairs of eyes were currently riveted upon the dark sky, both containing a worried expression.

"It's going to be bad, really bad," murmured the boy, glancing at his sister suddenly. "It doesn't seem like any ordinary storm… Especially after this string of excessive warmth. It's December, for pity's sake. Snow I would expect, but not this…"

The girl looked back at her brother nodded. "I don't like this… And tomorrow's our birthday, too! Why do these things always happen when we're looking forward to something fun?" she moaned. "Leon, why can't we have a normal year? Why can't we /be/ normal?"

The twins let out a sigh at the exact same time. "I wish I knew, Lireal. I wish I knew," replied Leon. "Let's go inside before Mrs. Calloway comes out here and drags us by the ears."

The boy turned and headed back inside. Lireal, however, remained where she was for a short time, staring into the clouds as if she saw something there. Shivering, she blinked, then turned and followed her brother back into the house. He was waiting for her right at the door and together they walked down the hall to their room. Mrs. Calloway was in the kitchen, through which they had to pass should they wish to go to their room, and she scolded them before allowing them to continue. As the twins passed the radio at the far end of the kitchen, it suddenly crackled and screeched with white noise. However, the two quickly hurried on and the radio returned to normal.

Mildly disturbed, the two quickly entered their small room consisting of a bunk bed, a desk, a bedside table and a chest of drawers. Lireal shut the door and Leon went to the window, shutting the blinds before climbing up to his bunk. Their cat, who adored sleeping upon the top bunk, suddenly let out a loud meow and bolted for the door, scratching at it and hissing at Lireal as she moved to let her out.

"What's the matter with the cat?" she asked her brother, the quaver in her voice betraying her worry and confusion. "Did you sit on her tail?"

"No! I never touched her! She just hissed at me, meowed and leapt down."

"What's going on? First the strange weather, then the radio and now the cat!"

Leon just shook his head. "I don't know, but… I feel tired all of a sudden. I'm going to sleep. Maybe we'll figure it out in the morning."

Lireal wasn't so sure, but she clicked off the light, kicked off her shoes and clambered into her own bed. After a while, she could hear her brother's soft snoring, but she could not fall asleep for a long time. A sudden crack of loud thunder and the brilliant flash of lightening through the curtains startled her, but as soon as the roll of noise ceased and she could hear the heavy pattering of water upon their roof, she slipped into unconsciousness.

Abruptly, sometime later, she shot awake, cold sweat beading upon her forehead and her heart pounding. She did not know why, but fear filled her, every sinew, and every bone. Lireal sat, suddenly cold and shaking uncontrollably, curling into a ball of miserable horror. Then it was gone and she relaxed, though she continued to shiver. Gazing wide-eyed around, she could find no logical reason for the fear, unless it was something from her dreaming, but she had not dreamt. Slowly, she lay back upon her pillow, smoothing the blankets and willing herself to go back to sleep. But sleep wouldn't come. Instead, a dreadful feeling welled up inside her, growing with each moment. It was as if some enormous weight pushed at her mind, threatening to take her over and change her into something else. That was, of course, quite ridiculous, but that was how it felt.

She was just starting to be able to ignore the awful feeling when the fear rose up again, triggered by an unusually loud wail. It was, of course, only the wind accompanied by the driving rain and the occasional crack of thunder. Still, it had sounded almost like a scream. A human scream. Barely stopping herself from moaning or screaming, Lireal snuggled deeper into her blankets, shuddering. And then, like before, it was gone, though the feeling remained.

Sometime later – it could have been a few minutes or a few hours; Lireal wasn't sure – the fear leapt up a third time, drowning Lireal in a sea of horror. It was worse than before. Much worse. It was like a large, deep, dark hole that swallowed her up and let her fall down and down into the dark, damp pit that was utter fear. The feeling threw itself at her with such horrifying force that it left her quaking in a limp cowering state of dumbness. She wasn't sure if she cried out or screamed or made a sound at all, but she did hear her brother shift in his bed and poke his head down.

"Lireal?" he said in a sleepy voice rife with concern, betraying not a hint of the same horror he had felt in his dreams. "Somethin' wrong?"

It was such a relief to hear his voice, to see his face in the inconsistent light of lightening, Lireal almost cried. Instead, she smiled weakly. "N.. no… Yes… I don't know. I think I'm going mad."

Her brother returned her ghost of a smile. "You wouldn't be the only one. Something's not right… not right at all. And it's not the storm."

Lireal nodded, but said nothing. Leon said nothing else, either. They were in understanding and didn't need to speak. Many who have known twins might swear they are telepathic, but really it is just the two know each other so terribly well, they don't need to talk. Such was the way with Lireal and Leon. With a final look to each other, the two settled back to a restless slumber. Strangely, this time it came quickly for Lireal.

Authoress' Notes!

So, this is the revised and added onto chapter 1. Hurrah! Hope you like it.

My old comments to the reviewers:

silvergenji & Demoness : To tell you the truth, I really have no idea /who/ the father is. I haven't decided yet... But I am pretty sure it isn't Merriman... Or the Rider... Or anyone obvious like that... But then again, I could do something interesting like that... hmm...

Chyneua : Thank you!

Eldrice: Thank you for the criticism. I appreciate it, really I do! I really don't know why I have the old man in there... (he is the Old One who gave Will's brother the mask) Maybe to explain stuff about the twins? Mm... I am still trying to figure out stuff like that... I wrote this in a fit of creativity after re-reading the first book and reading a bunch of people's fan-fiction...

My new comments to the same reviewers:

Silvergenji: So I actually know who the mother and father are now. -triumphant grin- After careful consideration and a random thought.. that was, I must say, on the.. er.. unclean side, I had a perfect picture of a scene taking place right after Lireal & Leon are.. em.. conceived. See my note in the rewritten prologue. If you like, I can email the scene to you or post it at the end of one of my chapters. If you don't mind a PG-13 to R rating for it.. and if you don't mind the slight spoilers. Like who the parents are. Actually, in the rewritten prologue, I kind of let slip who the mom is.

Demoness: See my note to Silvergenji 'bout the parents. Buaha! Yay for revisions and a random disturbed mind!

Chyneua: Again, thanks!

Eldrice: What I did before is what is called dux en machina. I think. Anyway… I must say, I've improved the bit you criticized. Later, when looking at my scraps of a 3rd chapter with Will, I was thinking he needs some way of knowing about Leon & Lireal. Thus, the old man is replaced with.. (dramatic chord) Will! Don't ask why Will would be there. He just is. I didn't think that far.